Berry Island, New South Wales

Berry Island is a locality in Wollstonecraft on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.^[1] It was originally one of Sydney's Harbour Islands, but it is now connected to the mainland by a constructed isthmus.

Berry Island Sydney, New South Wales
Berry Island reserve park view.
LGA(s)	North Sydney Council
Localities around Berry Island: Wollstonecraft Berry Island Port Jackson

Description

The area is now a reserve open to the public, with an interpretive bushland walk, playground and picnic area at the site. There is also a signposted Aboriginal site with rock carvings, grinding grooves and a waterhole. The reserve is heritage-listed.^[2]

History

Berry Island was part of a grant of land made by Governor Macquarie to Alexander Berry and Edward Wollstonecraft in 1820^[3] and is named after Alexander Berry.^[4]

The island was later joined to the mainland by a stone causeway over the mudflats. During the 1960s, the land between the island and the mainland was reclaimed and made into a grassed area.^[4][5]

Aboriginal sites

Aboriginal waterhole and grinding grooves (top right) along the Gadyan Track

Berry Island contains aboriginal rock carvings, middens, a smoke-stained cave and a stone tool grinding site.^[6] It has a 20-minute (750 metre) loop walk called the Gadyan Track, with interpretive signage describing the significance of points around the island. The main feature of the track is a large Aboriginal rock carving of a whale, with a boomerang-shaped carving, a waterhole and grinding grooves alongside it.^[7]